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| A grab from an earlier
report published in The Telegraph on misappropriation
of funds by Dhubri health officials |
July 2: For every childbirth
in the district’s rural health centres, the mother receives
Rs 1,400. For every baby delivered on paper, health department
officials pocket the same amount.
The Janani Surakha Yojana, a scheme
implemented under the National Rural Health Mission for
the benefit of women who cannot afford pre and post-natal
care, is filling the bank accounts of a section of health
officials.
At the Gajarikandi public health
centre, for instance, some officials have allegedly been
withdrawing money in the names of fictitious women.
To strengthen their case and avoid
suspicion, the officials have even issued immunisation cards
as proof of the beneficiaries’ existence.
Official sources in the district
office of the healthcare mission said there were 209 childbirths
at home and 17 institutional deliveries in 2005-06.
But in 2006-07, the figure shot
up to 11,135 cases of home delivery and 4,219 institutional
deliveries.
In rural areas, a mother is entitled
to Rs 1,400, while in urban areas the amount is Rs 1,000
for every institutional delivery.
The scam came to light in January
this year when Dhubri deputy commissioner Ganesh Chandra
Kalita detected that his signature had been forged on approval
files. He promptly filed an FIR against five officials,
including the then district programme manager and two joint
directors.
Three of them were arrested recently.
As allegations regarding anomalies
and misappropriation of funds meant for the Janani Surakha
Yojana grew by the day, the joint director of health services,
D.P. Goswami, decided to institute an inquiry.
A panel comprising the district
programme manager of the health mission, his counterpart
in the District Blindness Control Society and two other
officials was constituted recently to probe the anomalies
in the scheme.
Goswami asked the panel to do
“spot verification” of various health centres under construction
and also take stock of the implementation of the scheme.
The officials will also do an
internal audit and verify records of births and deaths.
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